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VEHICLE.

Patented July 3, 1883.

Inventor N. Pneus. mwmmmgmpm. wnsmgmn, ac.

(No Model.)

G. J. DICKSON.

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(No Model.) Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. G. J. DICKSON.

VEHIGLE.

No.\280,36l,.

MES

Wtnesses.- Inventor:

UNITED STATESA "PATENT GEETCE.

GILBERT J. DIoKsoN, on ALBANY, NEw YORK.

v E H C l. E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. `280,361, dated July 3,1883.

y l Application filed August 30, |882. (No model.)

Z'o @ZZ whom ibm/ay concern: f

Beit known that I, GILBERT J. DIoKsoN, of the city and county of Albany,in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful.Improvements in Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in .vehicles or carriages whichhave their bodies or platforms hung on springs, and which are 1oconstructed for the purpose of carrying passengers or freight. v

Among the principal defects found in this class of vehicles asheretofore constructed may be enumerated the following: iirst, the loca-I 5 tion of the axle-trees, or, as frequently constructed, theaxle-trees and springs beneath the body or platform of the vehicle,whereby the said body or platform is necessarily raised to such a heightas to render the entrance and 2o exit of passengers and the loading andunloading of freight a matter of great difficulty; second, pivoting theforward axle-tree by its middle and swinging it by means of a tonguefixed thereto, so as to cause the vehicle to turn off its direct course,which construction necessitates the use of veryl small forward wheels,so as to permit them to turn underneath the body or platform, or, wherelarge forward wheels are used, requiring an elevated extension of theforward part of the body or platform to enable the forward. wheels topass underneath it, thereby `rendering all that part of l the body orplatform useless, and throwing the Ventire weight of the load upon thehind axletree; and, third, the insufficiency of bracing l or support forthe inner ends of the spokes when the wheels are made of ample size tose- 'cure an easy and smooth running of the vehicle.

i The object of my invention is to remedy the 4o .above-named defects;and to this end my in vention consists in hanging the body or plat-Vform of the vehicle to the runningLgear by A 5 means of bearers orcarriers, which pass underneath the said body or platform and extendupward at each side of the same. The said 4upward extensions serve asguides for the sliding heads that are placed 'at each side of' thevehicle, and each of said sliding heads is provided withan axle forreceiving one wheel in such manner that a simultaneous moveof therunninglgear, and is connected to its carrier or carriers `by means ofsprings, as

hereinafter described; and the whole is so arranged that the body orplatform of the vehicle will be carried so closely to the surface of theroad that, while it will pass freely over any irregularities of theroad, it will be most convenient for the ingress and egress ofIpassengers, and the loading and unloading of freight. Provision is madefor fturning the vehicle from a' direct course by employing 6o under itsforward end a carrier held in a iixed transverse position, to which thesliding heads for the axles of the forward wheels are pivotallyattached, so as to move in a hori- Zotal plane. A tongue pivoted to'swing inde-` 65 pendently of the fixed carrier, but having its pivotalcenter at or near the middle of the said fixed carrier, is'connected bymeans of a bar or bars (pivotally connected to said tongue) to themechanism for carrying the forward wheels ment of the said wheels willbe effected, and the wheels turned at an abrupt angle to the center lineof the vehicle without striking the r body or platform of said vehicle.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, andto which reference is made herein, Figure 1 is an inverted plan View ofa passenger-vehicle containing my improvements as adapted to use withelliptic springs; Fig. 2, a transverse section at theline y y on Fig. 1;Fig. 3, a side elevation ofthe same; Fig. 4, a transverse section at theline on Fig. 3; Fig. 5, a plan, view of the forward part of the vehicleshown in Fig. 3; Fig. 6, a longitudinal section at the line .ez on Fig.2, showing the inner side of one of the hind wheels, and the guides,sliding heads, and spring for same; Fig. 7, an enlarged vertical sectionof a carrier, sliding head, and spring, and the central portion of awheel; Fig. 8, an

enlarged and detached detail of a carrier, slid- IOO at the line z z' onFig. 14; Figs. 16, 17, and 18,

enlarged and detached details of construction of the wheel shown in Fig.7 and Fig. 19, an inverted plan view of a vehicle containing myimprovements, showing an adaptation for turning the two forward wheelsat different angles.

As illustrated in the drawings, A designates the body of the vehicle,which may be constructed, as shown in Figs. 1 to 5, for carryingpassengers, or, as shown in Figs. 9 to 11, for the transportation offreight, or in any other suitable and required form; D, the carriersforthe hind wheels. The said car 1iers may be made of separate shortsections, as shown in Fig. Y1, or of sufficient length to run from sideto side across the under side of the vehicle, as shown in,Figs. 9 and19. Thesaid carriers are rigidly secured to the bottom of the vehicle,and are formed with extensions D', which stand erect at each side of thevehicle, but clear from the body of it, and the said extensions serve asguides for the sliding heads that carry the axles for the wheels. Thesliding head B is fitted to slide up and down on the guides D', and isprovided on its outer face with an axle, B', on which one of the wheelsof the vehicle is fitted to rotate. Said sliding head is provided withfriction-rollers e, that are arranged, as shown in Fig. 7, to bearagainst the guides D', so as to lessen the friction between the twoparts. The springs C, shown in the first eight figures of the drawings,are of an elliptic form, and have their lower part secured to the bottomflange of the sliding head B by means of the bolts f, and their upperpart secured by bolts f to a bearing-plate, G, which engages under thecollars 7 (formed on the guides D') in such manner that the weight ofthevehicle will be borne on said springs, but, as shown in the remainingfigures of the drawings, the springs C may be made in aspiral form toslide over the guides D', and are contained in sleeves B2 of the slidinghead. The said spiral springs engage under the collars r in the mannerand for the purpose above described in respect to the bearing-plateattached to the elliptic spring.

The carrier DL for the forward wheels is attached to the bottom of thevehicle by means of a center-bolt, d, in such manner as to permit anyslight swaying motion of the vehicle; but any fore-and-aft oscillationof said carrier is prevented by clips d', which are secured to thebottom of the vehicle, so as to bear against the front and rear sides ofthe carrier, but leave it free to rock in a vertical direction.

The tongue H has its pivotal center on the center-bolt, d, but isindependent of the carrier D?. As shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 5, the tongueH is 'connected to the forward end of the front' springs C by means ofrods h, which are pivoted at h' to the said tongue, and the parts are soarranged that when the tongue H is turned sidewise in either directionthe sliding heads B will swing on the guides D' of the carrier D2, andcause the forward wheels to turn at the same angle and at the saineinstant. As shown in Figs. 9, 11, and 12, the carrier D2 is attached tothebottoin of the vehicle in the manner above described; but the forwardwheels are attached to sliding heads B, that contain spiral springs. Acarrier, D3, pivoted to the tongue H and adapted to move endwisc, isprovided with guides D', like those on the carriers D. The guides on thecarrier D3 engage in the forward ends of the sliding heads B and causethe latter to move in unison with every lateral movement of the tongueH.

In Fig. 19, I show a modification of the mechanism for turning theforward wheels so as to adapt the angular position of' said wheels tothe different curves through which they are required to pass in turningfrom a direct course. The angles of the forward wheels shown in saidfigure are those in which said wheels `are requiredy to assume to turnthe vehicle abruptly, and the curves traveled by all of the wheels areseparately indicated by dotted lines, whos@ curves'are generated from acommon center marked p.`\ The different angular positions of the forwardvwheels are produced by this modified mechanism by separating thecarrier Di into two parts, the said parts (of the carrier) being4adapted to slide in a sleeve, I, (pivoted to the tongue H,) by means ofacain, J, which is fixed to the tongue H. The said cani is provided withslotted openings j, that are adapted to engage with studs d2, fixed inthe inner ends of the two parts of the carrier D, Fig.l 19, in suchmanner that when the tongue H is deflected laterally in either directionfrom its central line the two parts of the carrier D:s will be extendedfrom the ends ofthe sleeve I, so as to increase the distance between thetwo guides D', to which thesaid parts of the earrier are connected. Theeffect of this elongation is to increase the angularity of the positionof the wheel toward which the tongue is deiiected, and to the samedegree decrease the angularity of the wheel at the opposite side,thereby forcing the wheels into the different angular positions shown inFig. 19, to effect the purpose described. In either arrangement of themechanism above described for operating the forward wheels the shockcommonly produced whenever either of said wheels strikes against anyobstruction or inequality in the road is simply transmitted to .the ,guides D of the carrier D2, but such shocks cannot produce any lateralmovement of the tongue I-I, and consequently the animals that aredrawing the vehicle will be secure from any danger of injury that can beproduced from such a cause.

It will readily be seen that my improvements enable me touse wheels ofunusual diameter for both the forward and hind parts of therunning-geai' without producing any interference with any other part ofthe structure, and for that reason I am enabled to produce a much easierrunning vehicle than can be ob- IOO IIO

290,361- l v :n

`tained when small Wheels are used; and in order to obtain in saidwheels the greatest strength with the least weight, I preferablyconstruct their central parts in the manner shown in Fig. 7, themetallic parts o f which are shown in detailV in Figs. 16,17, and 18. Asshown therein, E is the nave of the wheel; and F the spokes, which areinserted in said nave in the usual mannen Each of said spokes isprovided near its middle with atapered portion, m, for the purpose ofreceiving a metallic yoke-piece, n, andthe latter is provided at twoopposite points on its diameter with eyes in which screw-threads aretapped. Circular bands or hoops q are fixed on the opposite ends of thenave E, and each of said bands is provided with a series of holes thatequal the number of spokes contained in the wheel. The holes in saidbands are tapped with screw-threads whose angles are placed in areversed direction to those cut in the eyes of the yoke-pieces n-that isto say, if the eyes of the latter are tapped with a right-hand thread,then the holes in the bands qwill be tapped with a left-hand thread, andvice versa. The brace-rods b are provided at one end with a right-handthread and at the opposite endl e'nd screws into its appropriate hole inthe band q. By turning said'brace-rods iu the proper direction,l eachyoke-piece` n will be drawn toward the nave E, and thereby the innerends of the spokes F will be forced into the nave, and when all of saidbraces are brought to their proper places, the outer ends of each-pairwill incline toward each other, and the whole will form a perfect systemof counter-bracing that will impart great strength to the spokes of thewheel, and consequently to the wheel itself.

Itwill also be seen that a vehicle, when constructed as hereinabovedescribed, 4 can have the bottom of its body or platform arranged quiteclose to the surface of a road, and thereby the entrance and exit ofpassengers and the loading and unloading of freight are rendered'mattersof easy convenience.

Where the use of smallwheels is preferred,`

or the body of the vehicle is vrequired to'be placed on a higher plane,-the carriers may be constructed with their guides D extending downwardinstead of upward, as hereinbefore described, and showniin the drawings,and the same dependent-construction of said guides may be `used wheneverit is necessary to place the carriers uponthe top of .the vehicleinstead of underneath it, as hereinabove described; but while thescopeof 'my invention includes these modifications, I prefer the con- Ystruction 'shown in the drawings.

What I claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-` l. A vehicle having each ofv its wheels ar 65 ranged on a separateand independent axle, formed on or xed to a sliding head, which isadapted to reciprocate vertically on 4guides formed on carriers, whichextend under the body of the vehicle, as herein described, the. saidcarriers and guides being so constructed and arranged in relation to theybody of the vehicle that they and their attached parts will remainclear from contact with the sides of said body, as herein specified. ,75

2. .The combination, with a carrier or carrif ers, D, extending underthe body of the vehicle, and provided with vertical guides D, whichextend upwardat the sides of the vehiclebody without forming a contacttherewith, of 8o a sliding head, B, provided with an axle, B', and thespring or springs C, all constructed and arrangedto operate as hereinspecified.

3. The combination, with the carrier D?, having guides D, and thesliding heads B, provided with axles B/, and pivotally. connected tosaid guides, as lherein set;forth,of the tongue H, adapted to moveindependently of the carrier D2, and connected either directly ormediately to the sliding heads B, as herein described, for the purposeof effectinga simultaneous change in the angularity of the. wheelsattached to said sliding heads, as herein specified.

4. A vehicle having two or more of y its wheels arranged to rotate uponindependent axles, that are fixed on sliding heads pivotallyconnectedtoa stationary carrier orcarriers, as herein set forth, andmechanism, substantially as described, whereby the angular position ofsaid wheels in respect to the longitudinal centerline of the vehicle maybe changed, in the manner and for the purpose herein speci-` fied.

5. The combination, with the ytongue H, provided with a cam, J,substantiallyas set forth, of the mechanism described for connect ingsaid cam withthe slidingheads B for the forward wheels, the whole beingso constructed and arranged to operate thateach of the said forwardwheels will be therebyadj usted to the different angles required to suit.the different curvatures traveled by said wheels in turning from adirect course, as herein specified. m

6. In a vehicle-wheel, the combination, with the nave E, provided withbands q, constructed as herein described, of the spokes F,provided withtapered portions m, the yoke-pieces n, and the brace-rods b, having aright-hand screw at one end and a left-hand screw at the opposite end,as herein set forth, the bracerods b being adapted to screw into theyokepieces n andbands q, in the manner and for the purposeshereinspecied.

4 GILBERT J. DIOKSON.

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Vfitnessesz- WILLIAM H. Low, T. W. LnRwoon.

